The Independence War
by Miles Tails McCloud
Summary: Five years after Dean helped Fox through the the Saurian Crisis, now the Cornerian Eggheads have stumbled across something hidden away on a planet in the Epsilon Eridani system and require Dean's Help to solve this new issue. Starring OC Dean Willaims from New Additions.
1. Prologue: The Beginning (Not Really)

_**EVERYONE STOP RIGHT THERE!**_ If you have not read my story New Additions then that's where you need to be. This is a sequel to that story, so off you go Peeps. Those of you who have read New Additions, welcome to the new and improved The Independence War. I would like everybody to welcome Tallbrain123, who has agreed to help me with the story.

The Independence War

Chapter One

Day One:

Earth Date: Nov. 4, 2021 A.D.

Lylat System:

Above Corneria

Dean Williams stared at the hologram of the planet he would be traveling to over the next day or so. He was standing in the briefing room within the nigh-legendary Great Fox as it hovered in orbit over Corneria idly. Nobody else was in the room at the moment, save R.O.B. 64, but then, he wasn't a person. Everyone else was in their rooms, asleep. Even his own wife, Jessica, who had insisted that she come along, was asleep in his room. He'd come here with the excuse of smoking a cigarette, but if he were honest with himself, he'd admit that he only came to think.

It had been five years since Andross had been completely and officially destroyed. He had somehow survived when Krystal and Dean got too intimate, which literally ruptured the fabric of reality. The fourth wall separating Corneria and Earth had been totally destroyed, and in the confusion, Andross somehow managed to revive himself yet again. But the lab boys on Corneria must have figured out what went wrong, because now they were asking the help of the fabled _Flying Demon._ As Dean had come to be called, after the Cornerian General Military Division learned of his Service Record from back on Earth and how he managed to beat both Fox and Falco in an aerial battle simulator.

He shook his head, before sucking a breath of air through the cigarette. It didn't make sense. They wanted him to explore some ice-covered planet in a system far removed from Lylat. He was a man of action, shoot first and ask questions later. Why would they reduce him to the role of scout? It only made it worse that they intended to send him alone. _Maybe they forgot who I am_, he thought bitterly. _Five years is a long time_.

His mind returned to thoughts of what had happened to him in that time. Since they sent him to Earth and he bade farewell to both allies and rivals, he had advanced quickly in the military. He hit a snag when he eventually met a superior of his in a bar that was even more hardheaded then even himself, and he may have been dishonorably discharged if he hadn't met Jessica. Call it a chance meeting, call it fate, but had she not shown up, he would have taken the arrogant bastard's head clean off. He found out later that she was the daughter that Wilkerson had been meaning to introduce him to. Great.

Dean chuckled at how embarrassed he had felt later on when he discovered that little tidbit of information. They hit it off well, once she calmed him down. She was just as restrained as he was reckless, and she managed to keep him in check. Their relationship progressed slowly, as far as Dean was concerned. Eventually, though, she said yes when he asked her to marry him, and they had their wedding. He chuckled as he remembered what he'd thought of it. He hadn't wanted anything to do with the planning or reception, and he'd said as much. He only made it clear that after the sun went down, she was all his. She didn't agree to that, though, and she'd forced him to be involved in the entire affair. _And it was horrible and exhausting_, he thought, chuckling at the exaggeration.

But once he was married, he had new hopes, and new fears. He did hope for a son, a strong kid who could be even greater than his father. But at the same time, he was always worried that someone would target his family, to get rid of him. That was why he had fought so hard to get Jessica to stay home. But she would have none of it, and she had made his room her home before he had even entered. _More hardheaded than Krystal was_, he thought.

Krystal. Since their relationship had gotten intimate, about a month after they'd met, he'd been forced to forget her. He had wrenched the events told in the game Star Fox: Adventures out-of-whack by taking Fox's place, and unintentionally making her fall for him. Since then, their relationship grew from nothing, to physical, to sexual, all in a matter of literally a few days. But it didn't feel rushed with her, and he blamed her telepathy. She knew what he was thinking whenever they were close to one another, and there was something about having his very being laid bare that made him feel vulnerable. Somehow, that feeling made him feel like he could trust her with anything, and what's a relationship without trust? But something had changed in the five years since he'd last seen her. Since Corneria had contacted him again, he hadn't yet seen her, despite having seen every other member of the team. He even got a much-overdue apology from Falco, despite Falco having lost their fight.

Fox had been the first one to talk to him. The leader of Star Fox had come personally to Earth to ask for his help, and Dean just couldn't deny him. He'd only seen the vulpine once since Andross had been killed, and that was on his wedding day. Fox had given him a specially modified Plasma Rifle, which was probably not entirely legal by Cornerian standards. But Earth had no such laws, so the gift was accepted with a smile and a wink. Apparently, Fox had to deal with the aparoid invasion shortly after that day, and Dean had to wonder why they hadn't asked him to help with that.

Falco hadn't been altogether friendly toward Dean, since the day Dean quite literally destroyed him in the combat simulator. It had come to a point one day, and Dean had put him in his place with quite a few well-placed punches. Since then, the avian minded his tongue whenever Dean was nearby, which just felt...fitting.

Slippy had left Dean alone entirely, and Dean would've thanked him for that, if he wanted to see him. It wasn't anything personal, Dean was thankful for the few neat handyman's tricks for maintaining his Arwing, but the toad was just unsettling on a number of levels. True, he could probably build an arwing from the parts in a landmaster, but he was awkward, both socially and in the cockpit.

And then there was Peppy Hare. Dean did respect the wizened man, more as a grandfather-type figure than as a leader. They hadn't actually gotten to know each other too well, but since the most annoying thing he did was say to do a barrel roll (when he technically meant aileron roll) in situations where it was actually a good idea to do one, Dean didn't hold that against him.

Dean leaned his head back and sucked one last breath through the cigarette before putting it out in some sort of ash tray. He didn't have any of the answers he'd hoped to figure out, but at least he'd been able to sort his thoughts. He looked again at the planet he was to go to. Allegedly, they'd detected heat signatures on the surface, so he was investigating the populations there. But he had a bad feeling about the electrical storms that apparently always cloaked the planet like a second crust. General Pepper assured him that the storms wouldn't affect his arwing, as long as he kept his shields up, but he still felt uneasy about it.

He abruptly turned and exited the room, leaving R.O.B. to turn off the hologram as he sought the comfort of his bed and his wife. It would be less than twenty-four hours before he left, took a warp gate, and then hyper-jumped to the planet, and he fully intended to spend that time in comfort and warmth.

Day Two:

Earth Time: November 5, 2021 A.D.

Epsilon Eridani System:

Exact Location Unknown

Dean looked closely at the planet in front of him. The hologram on the Great Fox had been accurate; it almost looked like a smaller, colorless Jupiter. The planet apparently didn't have a name, but it was the third rock from the system's sun. The first was closer than Mercury to Dean's own Sun, and the second was half the distance between Venus and Earth, had either planet been circling that star. This one was only a few thousand miles farther away than Mars from its star, and a thin asteroid belt stretched around the sun, giving shade to the third planet. Not that the icy ball of rock really needed more shade.

Dean looked more closely at the clouds above the planet. He'd seen Fichina's climate control center go haywire, and the storm then had clearly been coming from the building. But here, the storm just circled the planet constantly. He didn't know why, but he just knew that there was something...off about that storm.

"Alright, Dean. You're cleared to proceed," Peppy's voice came out of the long-range com. It was surprisingly clear, given that he was actually light-years away from them.

"Roger that," he said.

"Don't forget the G-diffusers," Fox said.

"How could I?" Dean asked. If he hadn't had them on during the extra-light speed travel, he'd have been torn apart by the G-forces. Even so, he did a triple-check to make sure everything was on that was supposed to be. Life support, check. All-range mode, check. Power levels, above eighty percent. Deflector shields? He leaned forward and hit the switch. He had wanted to save power by turning them on at the last minute, but he didn't want to forget.

"Alright, Dean, take it in slow," Peppy cautioned. "We don't know what's waiting down there."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "I know what I'm doing."

"You sure about that?" Falco asked. "It's been a while, gramps."

"I'm hardly older than you are," Dean retorted. "And keep talking; I still have what it takes to show you who's the boss."

"I'm waiting," Falco said, and Dean could imagine him leaning against something with his arms folded. _I'll kick him in the head when I get back_.

"You'd better come back," Jessica said. She sounded worried, and it hurt to hear her that way.

"I promise," he said.

"Okay," she said. "I'll count the seconds."

_So will I_, Dean thought as he drew closer to the icy planet. Sure, he had a thermal vest that would make the Himalayas feel like a sauna, but this planet wasn't just an icy mountain; it was farther from the sun than Earth. Suddenly, a wave of gravity hit the small ship, and Dean let up on the throttle.

"Switching to delta interface," he said aloud, hitting a switch. The HUD on the windshield adjusted slightly for atmospheric travel.

"We've got a live feed, Dean. We see what you see," Fox said.

"Estimated time until entry: one minute," R.O.B. croaked out.

"Got it," Dean said, pressing a few digits on a keypad nearby. A one-minute timer showed up in the corner of the windshield, and he made a note to keep track of it. The timer wasn't normally a part of arwings, but he had specifically asked for it on this one. It was, after all, completely custom, complete with an improved shielding system and an expensive warp module.

"Are you sure about this?" Falco asked. Even fifty seconds from entry, he couldn't see past the cloud cover.

"It's nothing but bad weather," Peppy said.

"Yeah," Slippy piped up, "I put in a second shield that'll make him able to fly through a tornado without flinching."

"Where?" Dean asked.

"It should be just under your deflector shields," the toad said, and Dean hit the button, making it light up. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw blue energy crackle along the wings of his arwing.

"Thirty seconds," R.O.B. warned.

"No turning back now," Dean said, leaning back. The ride was much smoother than he expected, considering the fireball that had gathered on the front of his ship.

"Warning! Anomaly detected!" R.O.B. said suddenly.

"What is it?" Peppy asked. Dean activated the brakes, but the ship hardly slowed down.

"Magnetic anomaly detected in planet's atmosphere."

"Peppy! What's that mean?" Dean asked as his ship started accelerating more. The timer, which was now moot, read twenty seconds.

"R.O.B., are you sure that's not just a solar flare?" Fox asked.

"Negative. Electromagnetic pulses detected are coming from the storm clouds."

"Oh, no..." Peppy said. _Ten seconds_. "Dean, you gotta get outta there!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Even so, he started to turn the ship around.

"You were right about the storm! Stay out of those clouds!"

"That's not going to be easy," Dean said, throttling now that he'd turned around. His ship wasn't accelerating as fast as he'd hoped, though. The timer harmlessly counted to zero while he continued trying.

"Dean, we lost our feed. What's going on down there?"

"Dean? Babe?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know!" Dean shouted. "This piece of junk won't go faster!"

Suddenly, Dean heard the unusually loud crackling of lightning, and turned his head that way.

"What the hell?" he asked. A thick streak of purplish lightning was speeding toward him, but much slower than lightning should've been.

"Dean? What's happening?" Peppy shouted.

"Something's coming toward the sh–" he began, when the lightning slammed into the wing. Electricity spiked across the ship's shield, but the purple lightning bounced off of the ship after its impact.

"Whew," he sighed. "Looks like I dodged a bullet."

Before he'd even finished talking, he heard a warning beep.

"Damn it!" he shouted, noticing his ship's nearly-depleted energy levels. "What the hell happened?"

"Dean, what's going on?" Jessica asked.

"Ship's out of power. I can't get out of the atmosphere."

"Don't panic," Peppy said. "Just turn off everything you don't need and hover above the clouds. Your ship can recharge itself, given enough time."

"I know how to use arwings," Dean said, annoyed. "And I won't sit here doing nothing, waiting for a rescue."

"Dean, don't do anything stupid," Jessica said.

"I'm not. Peppy, can these shields still protect me from the storm?"

"Dean, you're at half power. And the clouds will put you at zero, no matter how much you have."

"I guess that's why this spaceship doubles as an airplane. I've done crash landings before."

"Don't do it!" Jessica said. Her voice made him cringe, but he'd already made up his mind.

"You'll be back in my arms soon," he said, before turning the ship back toward the clouds.

"Turn that ship around, soldier!" Peppy shouted.

"Leave him be," Fox said.

"Thanks, Fox," Dean said, before his ship shot into the dark clouds. Immediately, the com system dissolved into static and every light inside the cockpit shut off.

"I'm sorry, Jessica," he said, shaking his head soberly. He hadn't wanted her to worry, but doubtless that's exactly what she was doing. He heard lighting crackling outside his window, and hoped that he would make it out without a problem. Of course, his ship was now rocking violently and accelerating, and now that his G-diffusers had been shut down, too, he couldn't even be certain he was still right-side up. Then he saw a familiar purple glow to his left.

"Damn," he said, just before the unnatural lightning blasted his wing. He felt a buzzing in his fingertips as electricity shot through his ship. The craft began to spin as the destroyed wing began to smoke, and Dean fought to remain conscious as the blood rushed to his head. He twisted the control yoke to stop his spinning, and he dropped out below the clouds. Once he did, he heard a whirring, and knew that the ship was already beginning to recharge itself. Not like that'd actually help at this point; he couldn't even stop spinning, and the ground was coming up fast.

Dean cursed loudly as he continued to pull on the control yoke. It didn't matter; the ship only had one wing, and not enough energy to fly without wings like it did in space. The ship spun faster and faster, and Dean slowly lost his sense of awareness as the G-forces became too much to stand. As his vision blurred, he tried to grip the controls more firmly, but eventually felt his arms fall to his lap as he sank back into his seat. With nothing to slow it down, and nobody to help it stay aloft, the ship fell to the ground like a burning meteor, hitting the plains below with a dull thud.

**A/N: Welcome back everybody! I didn't agree with the way that TIW was going so I decided to rewrite it with the help of my friend Tallbrain123. We decided that there should be a prologue explaining what happened between New Additions and TIW, well here it is. Tallbrain123 wrote this chapter and I will be following up with chapter one very shortly. Chapter One is in the making and should be done soon. L8r peeps! **

**P.S. Dont forget to check out Tallbrain's page, plz and thx!**


	2. Day Two: Recon

Day: Unknown

Precise time: Unknown

Epsilon Eridani System

Precise location: Unknown

Dean lay in the relative safety of his nearly-destroyed arwing as the smoke pouring from its wing gradually lessened. Enough snow had already fallen to cover the arwing's one remaining wing, and much of the windshield. But it was completely lost to Dean, as well as anyone on the other side of the long-distance comm system in his ship, which was currently rebooting. But even if a connection had been established, Dean would still be unaware of his wife's frightened cries; he'd been knocked unconscious by the crash, and even now, blood trickled down the side of his head. But his arwing had been prepared for anything, and someone (most likely Slippy) had foreseen such an event happening.

The ship made a few beeps as its self-sustained energy supply charged itself, and a certain subroutine was run. A small panel lit up, with the words "Life-support" written across it, and within seconds, Dean was moving again. It started with just a deep breath, but with the ship itself waking him up, Dean's eyes were opened before a full minute had passed.

"Dean?!" someone shouted through the com as soon as it crackled to life. "Dean, are you okay? Please answer me."

"I'm alive, Jessica," he groaned, holding his head and sitting up. The com immediately became filled with voices, and Dean couldn't have understood any of them if he hadn't just been knocked out. Either way, he could guess at what everyone was saying. Peppy would be chastising him for being so reckless. Fox would be glad just to hear that he was alive, but the smug fox would probably act like he knew all along that he'd be fine. Jessica would be moving between an extreme version of both Fox and Peppy's reactions, while most likely crying him a near-literal river. And as for Falco and Slippy, Dean could care less. The image of Jessica crying had struck him harder than he expected, and he didn't snap out of it until Peppy managed to quiet everyone down.

"Dean, what were you thinkin'?" the hare shouted.

"Calm down," Dean replied, checking himself for injuries. "I'm alive, and I'm ready for the mission."

"You could've been killed!"

"But I wasn't," he replied calmly, staring at the blood he'd wiped off of his head. It wasn't much, so he didn't suspect it had been too serious of an injury. He began to tend to his few minor injuries, waiting for Peppy to continue his shouting. He didn't have to wait long.

"Dean, I don't care –" Peppy began, when Jessica interrupted him.

"Dean, you don't have to stay down there. We can get you back up here, and everything will be okay. Just come back to me."

"He can't," Fox said.

"Why not?" Jessica asked, on the verge of anger. Instead of an answer, Dean heard a sigh from the other side of the com.

"He's right," Peppy admitted, beginning to calm down. "You're below the clouds now, so you're gonna have to wait for help."

"I'm on it," Slippy croaked, before Dean heard footsteps dashing out of the room. _At least he doesn't need to be told twice_, he thought.

"There has to be something we can do," Jessica said.

"Not from here, there's not," Peppy said. "We're moving closer already, but maybe you should go wait in your room. We'll make sure you're the first to hear about new developments."

Jessica sighed, and Dean silently hoped she listened. She was notoriously hardheaded, and her presence on the other end of the com, while welcome, would be too distracting.

"Get him off of that planet soon," she said darkly, "or I'm going after him."

Dean's eyes widened at the thought, and he felt something in his chest fall clear down to his feet. Before he could protest her threat, he heard her soft footsteps fading.

"You better hurry; she'll do it," Dean warned.

"Not if she can't work a warp gate," Peppy said calmly. "Now, since you're too thick-skulled to listen to us, we'd better get you briefed on your mission."

"What mission?" Dean asked, checking his arwing for supplies and weapons that he could reach from the cockpit. "This was just recon, wasn't it?" He found his barely-legal Plasma Rifle, and checked it for damage while Peppy spoke.

"Yes, it _was_. But something's going on here, and I want to know what."

"I _told_ you that something was up," Dean said with a growl.

"I know you did, and I should have known. But you should have stopped when you were still above the clouds."

"Don't you start arguing," Falco said. "You were both equally wrong. Now can we get on with it?"

"He's right," Dean admitted after a few seconds. He returned his attention to the rifle, before stowing it once more. "Now, what's the plan?"

Peppy sighed. "You've been out for a while. But you should have a few days' worth of supplies stored in your arwing. You'll need those, so make sure they're safe."

"I could've told you that," Dean said, reaching to open the windshield. He barely opened it an inch before a gust of bitter cold wind blew in, hurting his fingers immediately and prompting him to shut it once more. "Do you have any idea how cold it is out there?" he asked.

"You've got a thermal vest," Fox said. "You should be fine."

"And _you've_ got fur. Maybe you would rather be down here?" Dean asked, looking for more thermal wear.

"I mean, you won't die," Fox said. "You're a soldier, and a good one at that."

Dean hesitated, putting on more clothing until he was thickly bundled up and it started to get uncomfortably hot. "Thanks, I guess," he eventually replied, before opening the windshield again. The excessive heat left almost immediately, but it wasn't too cold through the clothing. He stood and stepped out into the snow, where his specially-designed boots kept him from sinking too deep. He didn't know how thick the snow was, but he assumed it would be very, very deep.

"Be careful," Peppy warned.

"Quit worrying so much, old man," Dean replied, drawing his Plasma Rifle from the arwing. "I'm always careful."

He heard no replies, but at least two people snickered immediately. When a few more silent seconds passed, Dean shut the cockpit to keep the snow out and began to check his supplies and surroundings. After a few minutes, he decided he wanted a smoke, and reached into a pocket. He let out a frustrated sigh as soon as his hand closed on the crushed box of cigarettes.

"Great," he growled, freeing his hand from the pocket. Two crushed cigarettes fell out into the snow, but he didn't notice them. The snow quickly buried them, but by then, Dean Williams was long gone.

****Day Three

Elipson Eridani System

Third Planet

Planetside: Exact location unknown

Dean sighted through the scope of his Plasma Rifle, Fox had informed Dean when he gave him the Rifle that it fired 12.7 mm rounds that are supercharged as they leave the barrel. Or if he ran out of 12.7s he could fire sonic waves from the built in Solar charged battery. It also had a scope that would allow him to hit a target at a range of over 750 meters.

"That's why they are called Plasma Rounds. Because the rounds are so hot that they emit plasma particles. Our technology isn't as far ahead of yours as you think. Your weapons and technology is only about 250 years behind us." he had said.

Third planet, of the Epsilon Eridani system, a real barren rock, cold as hell. He could feel the wind passing right through his thermal vest, as he watched one of the locals move around one of the crude stick and animal skin huts. Dean had encountered some kind of magnetic cloud when he approached the planet, and lost all power to the Arwings engines, causing him to crash on this miserable rock.

Thankfully the long-range comm. wasn't broken, and Dean got a message out to Fox for assistance. The Great Fox was stationed outside the system, ready to move in and scoop up him and his Arwing, as soon as the eggheads back on Corneria to found a way to pass though the field without loss of power. Until then, he was on his own.

The native that he was watching through the scope of his rifle, was to Dean's astonishment, human. The human in question was male, appeared to be in mid-20s from Dean's perspective. He was well built, like he spent many hours at the gym, and carried a long wooden spear. Dean watched as Joe Bob, as he called him, wandered though the collection of huts, and spoke to the other "villagers". He seemed to be excited about something, as he was constantly brandishing his spear and flexing his arms. Maybe it was time for a hunt, because Dean had not spotted any source of food in his quick survey of the village. Either that or it was time for a fight between two rivals?

_Primitive._Dean thought.

Dean's original mission was simple. Nothing to difficult, or at least he thought when he was briefed. Since it was a simple mission Dean only brought 3 days worth of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), and he had a day and half left if he rationed right. Water was plentiful thank to the snow, but the food was scarce, seeing as he crashed in a tundra. Fox had informed Dean via Comm. Link yesterday that there was a forest about 30 klicks to the south, and it was rich with heat signatures, indicating life forms, and lifeforms meant a possible food supply. That was where Dean was headed before he stumbled across the primitive village in the distance, and stopped to file a threat assessment.

Suddenly there was a beep on Dean's comm, indicating a new message. After checking that the surrounding area was devoid of any motion. he slouched down behind the boulder he was using for cover and opened the file. It was from Fox and it read:

"_About 50 heat signatures moving in your general direction from the north-northeast. They're about 3 klicks out, big too."_

"Thanks, preforming recon now." Dean replied.

Dean moved in a low crouch to the top of a nearby hill, and when he reached the top, sighted through his scope to the north-northeast. There were 55 spacecraft, heading on a south-southeastern course directly toward Dean and the village off yonder. Dean bumped up the magnification to max; 20x, and studied the ships. They were matte black, about the size of the Great Fox, and shaped like spheres with antennas everywhere, reminding Dean of a spike they approached, Dean reduced the magnification levels allowing him to keep the many craft in sight. Spheres, the strongest shape known to sapient species. It is so strong because any damage inflicted is distributed evenly along the hull in all directions, therefore causing less damage.

Dean flinched as a massive neon blue orb, about the size of the average house, rose from the village and slammed into one of the Sphereic craft. _I guess they're not as primitive as I thought._Dean moved in a swift crouch down off of the hill and in the opposite direction of the craft. All he had was his Plasma Rifle, he didn't stand a chance against the many craft in the sky above him. His best bet was to get out of sight, because as the old saying goes, "Out of sight, out of mind." Dean saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his right eye and glanced in that direction.

What he saw stopped him cold, the Sphereic craft were taking hit after hit of quote unquote AA fire, but no damage was being caused. Dean snorted, he shouldn't be surprised. Spheres are damn near uncrackable if reinforced correctly.

Dean looked over the battle once more, crouching lower to the ground. More and more of the energy balls shot out of the village, but the few hits that actually landed didn't slow the spacecraft down in the slightest. The small village didn't stand a chance; clearly, they hadn't fought this enemy before, because with a battle so seemingly one-sided, the village would have been wiped out.

_So how did they get AA guns_, Dean wondered as the ships grew closer, _and why don't they seem to know how to use them?_

At some point, the airships stopped moving. Dean stared at them warily as the AA fire continued to pelt their hulls harmlessly, but no weapons appeared or fired at the village. _What, are they taking prisoners?_ Dean wondered. That would make sense; the ships couldn't land and nobody could dismount while they were being fired upon. And if they didn't want the entire village wiped out, they would need a precision weapon, which Dean guessed they would've used by now if they had it. The two forces, as unlikely as it was, were at an impasse.

"Maybe they _have_ done this before," Dean said under his breath.

Quite abruptly, a large blue shield shot out over the foremost ship. A shot that would otherwise have missed veered toward the shield, making Dean wonder what was going on. As soon as the bolt of energy hit the shield, it split into a number of much smaller balls, which shot out from the point of impact for a moment, before snaking their way back to the center. Dean's confusion only grew until all of the energy bolts shot back out toward the village, weaving their way through the sky at an unseen signal. With a disturbing silence, each bolt found its way to a hidden AA cannon, destroying it and a few of the huts surrounding it with a fiery explosion.

"What the f-" Dean began, when the screams of people burning reached his ears. He felt a sudden anger, and abruptly dashed into the village to help where he could, ignoring the airship as it descended to the snowy ground.

It wasn't difficult work to put out the fires; he was, after all, surrounded by snow. Most of them were put out by the snow, or a lack of proper fuel, but Dean still worked to keep them from spreading. The entire time he worked, he didn't see any of the people from the village. Well...none that were still alive. He was no stranger to death, but this was one of the first times he'd seen the corpse of a man who was burned to death. The smell would have bothered him more, if he could smell anything through his numb nose which sat smothered by a few centimeters of cloth.

Only after he was sure the fires were out did Dean remember his mission. He was officially here on recon, and that's what he would do. He heard voices, and crept toward them, careful not to be seen. He peeked out from around one of the tents, and spied a group of heavily-armed men walking in formation behind a man who walked with no helmet at all.

"A commander," Dean whispered. "How's he not freezing to death?"

He turned to his communicator, and activated it. "Slippy, you getting all this?" he asked as the commander gave orders in a strange language. He realized a few moments later that the alert would give him away if he didn't do something, so he made sure it was silent and subtle. He looked once more at the well-trained squad in front of him, before stepping back and waiting patiently for a reply from those watching over him.

"What is that?" Slippy asked as the strange words appeared on a nearby hologram, in text form.

"Good question," Fox said. "Jessica's still in her room, right?"

"Of course," Falco said, rubbing the back of his head with a wince. "But I think we should leave her be."

"She hit you?" Fox asked, humored.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Guys, seriously. What is this?" Sippy asked again.

"Relax," Fox said calmly. "R.O.B., run a scan on those words. Search all common languages in every known system."

"What?" Falco asked. "You can't be serious. This is unexplored space, how is that gonna work?"

"Because those are space worthy crafts. It would be impossible to hide from Corneria for this long with an army of any size, so I'm betting they're Venomian."

"Andross?" Falco asked.

"I hope not," Fox said, shaking his head.

"Search complete," R.O.B. croaked out. "No results."

"What?" Fox asked.

"Not Andross, then," Falco said.

"Then who is it?" Slippy asked yet again.

"R.O.B., search all known languages," Fox said.

"That will take some time," the robot warned.

"Just do it," he replied.

"It had better not take long," Falco said. "Dean's stuck down there, and we don't even know what he's up against."

"I think I might have an idea," Peppy said, causing the three to turn around. "R.O.B., check this sample against all known dead languages."

"Cancel current search?" it asked.

"Of course," Fox replied. He turned to the hare questioningly. "A dead language?"

He nodded. "I have a hunch. Just hope that I'm wrong."

"What're you thinking?" Falco asked.

"Yeah," Slippy put in. "Why would they speak a known language? Especially one that hasn't been spoken in known space for so long?"

"Well, once again, just hope that I'm wrong," Peppy said. Slippy typed out a hurried message to Dean, telling him what they were doing, and then the four waited eagerly for the results.

"Search complete," R.O.B. said.

"Well?" Peppy asked.

"One result."

"Display it," Fox said. After a few seconds, a few lines of text appeared on-screen, and Peppy sighed, lowering his head.

"Something wrong?" Falco asked.

"No. Not the results I expected, but that's not a bad thing. Get Dean a translator, and tell him to be careful. I...I need to do some research," Peppy said, before abruptly leaving. Fox and Falco watched him go, and then glanced at each other questioningly.

"What was that about?" Falco asked.

"Meterian?"

"I don't know. I've never heard of that language."

"Alright, message sent," Slippy said, turning around. "Peppy?"

"He left," Fox said. "Falco, you wanna check on Jessica again?"

His hand went to the back of his head again. "Not really. But speaking of women, where's Krystal?"

"What do you mean?" Slippy asked. "She's in her room."

"I know," Fox said. "But why? Ever since Dean got here, she's been in her room. I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Careful," Falco called.

"Don't worry about me. Worry about Dean."

"_Here's a translator. Peppy says be careful._"

Dean sighed and closed the message, after activating the translator. The old man had a tendency to worry, but after seeing what those ships had taken without flinching, he assumed that caution would be a good idea. He hadn't yet moved, and neither had the squad nearby, aside from the two who had been sent into the village. Dean had been watching those two, though, and knew they weren't looking for him. But after a few moments, they both returned, dragging a lightly-injured man between them. He was wearing what looked like a lab-coat from Dean's distance, so Dean assumed he was some kind of Egghead. The commander put on a false smile as they approached, regarding the man with civility.

"We've spend a long time searching for you," the commander said after the soldiers dropped him. "And here we find you, nestled right under our noses."

The translator didn't translate the first word that Lab Coat said, but considering that the second word was "you", Dean mentally snickered at what he guessed had been said. Dean's thoughts were confirmed when one of the two soldiers stepped forward and punched him in the face.

"You should watch your language," the commander said. "There may be women and children that didn't listen when you told them to leave."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lab coat coughed. The commander grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him into the air.

"Don't lie to me, now, doctor. You could have escaped. But instead you came here, took the technology we so graciously gave these barbarians to defend themselves against wild animals, and used it to try to rebel. It might've worked, too, had you chosen a village a little farther along their cycle. Now I'll ask you one time: where did you send them?"

_So he is an Egghead._ Dean thought.

"How dare you?!" Lab-coat shouted, apparently finding his strength. "You call these men barbarians, and then harvest their children like they were cattle!"

_What?_ Dean thought.

"How many of the men behind you came from this village, I wonder?" he asked. Dean saw all of Lab-coat's muscles suddenly tense up and begin to shake, and he even saw a spark leap from the commander's hands. After a few seconds of this, the electrocuted man was dropped in a heap, and the commander knelt in front of him.

"I don't want to ask you again."

"Go to hell," he said, before another hit rendered him unconscious. He was slung over a soldier's shoulder and hauled into the nearest airship while the commander rubbed his temples.

"No matter," he said after a while. He turned to the squad. "Spread out. Tear the village down. Take everyone and everything, and leave nothing behind."

"Time to get out of here," Dean said, backing away. He turned to leave the way he'd come, and saw a ship land right in his path.

_Blocked,_ he thought, cursing. He turned once more, and realized that a third ship had already landed in that direction. Already soldiers were swarming out of every ship to prevent any villagers from escaping, and Dane realized he had no way out. He turned on his Plasma Rifle, though; if he was going down, it wouldn't be without a fight.

"Now, what's this?" Dane heard behind him. He spun quickly, but before he could see what had spoken, he was hit in the head hard enough to knock him off his feet. He only felt himself fall the short distance to the cold snow, before he completely blacked out once more.

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait everybody, I know that I said that the next chapter would be up in a week. I am not going to make excuses, I wrote my self in to jam several times when trying to take what** _Tallbrain123_** wrote and making what I wrote fit. So to make up for it, this Chapter was longer than usual. I am almost halfway done with Chapter Three.**


	3. POW or Not?

Dean Williams let out a soft groan as he slowly opened his eyes. The back of his head throbbed painfully, testifying to the impact that had rendered him helpless in the first place. He managed to sit up with a loud curse, and looked around, hurrying to take in his surroundings, as his training demanded.

He sat within a poorly lit metal cell, along with three other prisoners, human by appearance. None of them stirred in the slightest, so Dean quickly reached to check the pulse of the nearest. A few seconds later, a much quieter curse left his mouth, and he lowered his head to pay homage to the lives lost.

Before a full ten seconds of silence passed, Dean continued the search of his immediate area. Outside the cell was empty, but Dean expected that to change within the hour. After all, few people would be simple enough to leave prisoners unchecked, especially ones armed like Dean had been. He closed his eyes and knelt, laying a hand flat against the floor to try to see what his eyes couldn't.

His ears didn't tell him much. A dull humming permeated the air, telling Dean that he was on board a space craft, likely one of the spherical ships he'd seen earlier. Panic tried to rise in his throat, but he pushed it back with practiced ease; he hadn't buckled under pressure in a very long time, and he'd gotten out of worse situations than this before.

A faint click sounded from somewhere in the distance, and Dean's eyes shot open. Another click sounded immediately after, and another, perfectly timed to be the footsteps of a small group of people. Dean hurried as quietly as he could back to where he'd awoken, and laid down again, effectively playing dead. Of course, he assumed they had seen him awake, but it was always possible that they had overlooked a detail, even one that major.

The people continued through the hall, their steps growing louder as they approached Dean's cell. Just as Dean guessed that they stood immediately outside of his cell, they stopped, and he reminded himself not to make so much as a twitch.

"Arise, servant," a female voice crooned, "I know that you are awake."

Dean almost smirked, but continued to lay still. He couldn't be caught off guard by such a simple trick, which would even work if they hadn't seen him awake. He heard a slightly annoyed sigh, followed by a few quiet beeps, before a slight buzzing coursed through the floor that he lay on.

"That was ten volts," a man said. "Would you like to make it ten thousand?"

_Damn_, he thought with a grunt. He sat up slowly and watched them all carefully, trying to make them think he was drowsy with partially squinted eyes and slow, deliberate movements. Even a slight error on their part would be punished severely.

"Arise, servant," the woman said again, slower. Her lips didn't quite match the words she said, and with a quick check, Dean confirmed that his translator hadn't been taken from him.

"Servant?" Dean asked. "I don't know who that is."

"Silence!" she shouted, suddenly irate. "Servants only speak when spoken to."

"You know what?" Dean asked, trying to get control of his own anger, "Why don't you just come in here, and we'll see who the servant is?"

One of the male guards spat through the bars, and Dean deliberately allowed the spittle to strike his boot. Even if he could've avoided it, he was going to continue to let them underestimate him. He looked back up at the guard, who was short, but stout, and let a smirk show.

"That wasn't very nice, shorty," Dean taunted, hoping to get his cell opened.

"You sure went down easy," he replied, apparently taking the bait, "for a 'tough guy'."

"Ah, so you're the one who hit me," Dean said, massaging the back of his head. "If you're looking for a fight, I'll give you one; just don't attack when my back is turned, like a coward."

At that moment, all three of the people had different reactions. The taller guard smirked, as though he thought Dean had no idea what he was getting into. The woman continued to look at him in an aloof way, as if the words hadn't registered in her mind. And the shorter guard now wore a mask of rage. As quickly as he could, he whipped the keys off of his belt and pried open the door, launching a fist toward Dean's seemingly unprotected jaw.

In the blink of an eye, Dean sidestepped the punch, cushioned from the impact by a few inches of air. Before the attacker could retract his fist, Dean wrapped his right arm around it and held it fast, before driving his left fist into the elbow with all the force he could muster. He heard a satisfying _crack_, and the man's arm bended much farther than it ever should've, before Dean lowered himself underneath his torso. Pushing with all his might, Dean forced the man forward and out the door, using him as a human battering ram to try to escape. Two steps away, though, the injured man was pulled free, and a firm impact to Dean's chest sent him back into the cell, though he maintained his footing.

"'Servant' _that_," Dean said under his breath as the woman dropped the injured man right onto his broken arm. His howl of pain was more satisfying than it probably should've been, but it only made Dean smile victoriously, despite being back in his cell with the door closed and locked once more.

As if on cue, three more guards approached, as though out of nowhere. All three donned heavy armor, which may as well have been landmaster armor compared to Dean's fists. Without a word, one of the three hauled the injured man away, while another brandished a long, barbed rod of some sort. Without hesitation, he thrust the weapon through the bars toward Dean, who narrowly avoided it. The guard twisted the tip toward him, but Dean ducked under it, feeling the hair on his skin rise as it approached him. He rolled out of range and stood, before backing further away from the shock stick.

"You think your staff has me scared?" he asked. "It's going to take more than that to stop me."

"You are not one to talk about primitive, when you live on this planet," the woman said, enunciating each syllable with the care of a neurosurgeon during an operation.

"I really hope you're not the head of the Intel department," Dean said, "because you _will_ lose this war."

"Oh?" the woman asked, allowing a modicum of surprise to show.

"Especially if you continue to detain me," he continued. "Because holding a soldier of the United States' Military _and_ the Cornerian Defense Force as a prisoner of war will be taken as an act of aggression by both planets."

The woman's eyebrows rose, and her face displayed genuine surprise. All of the guards around her stood at full attention, and even she stood up a lot straighter.

"I had wondered where you attained the level of training neccessary to injure one of my best majors," she commented, unlocking his cell once more. "Come!" she commanded sharply, before spinning on a heel and hurrying through the corridor.

"So," Dean said, hurrying out of the cell as the guards dispersed, "what was that planetside firefight about?"

"It's none of your concern," she replied, once again precise and calculated.

"Very well," Dean said, "then state your name and rank."

"Shar'Loc," she replied, " I lead the Warbird clan. And you?"

"Dean. Dean Williams."

"And your clan?" she asked.

"Uh...the Flyboys," Dean replied.

"Right," she said quietly. "You mentioned the United States Military?"

"Yeah."

"I haven't heard of them."

"It's the combined forces of my home planet," he said, careful not to give away too much information. If it did come down to war, maybe this woman would hesitate long enough to buy Earth some time to get reinforcements.

Shar'Loc didn't say a word as they approached a four-way intersection. She turned right without slowing, but Dean looked as far down each hall as he could, gathering whatever information he could. Other than dimly lit bare metal falls, he couldn't discover much. He hurried to catch up, and tried to cover up his delay with a question.

"So, am I some sort of prisoner?"

"No," she said, before hiding behind total silence once more.

"Then I'm cleared to leave?" he asked.

"You are."

"And my gun?"

"Has been stowed within your fighter, and will be accessible once you exit our ship."

"My fighter?" Dean asked, still careful not to give away information. Before she responded, the pair came into a large hangar, and Dean quickly spotted his Arwing nearby.

"That fighter," she said pointedly.

"Right," he said, as though he just remembered it. He moved toward it, but Shar'Loc's hand whipped out and latched onto his wrist.

"I advise you, soldier of Corneria, not to make any sudden moves," she warned coldly.

"Of course," he said casually, prying her hand off of his wrist and continuing toward his ship, which was surrounded by men in lab coats. The damaged wing had been repaired, replaced now by a greyish metal, and Dean nodded his approval, before brusquely shoving aside the scientist-types to get into his craft. He quickly found one other inside the cockpit, fiddling with the computer and trying to navigate through its defenses with seeming difficulty. Dean smirked as he realized that the AI Slippy had made specially for his Arwings Security features was foiling the egghead's attempts to gain access to the Arwing's main computer. It was a combination of voice, language and stress analyzers that ran any voice command through the computer and compared the command to one on file. If it matched the computer would unlock, if not, the computer would appear as empty and unable to even do anything other then power on and flash "_Computer_ _Inactive: Contact Slippy"_

Dean paused as the Scientist tried once again to access the computer.

"Computer," Dean heard the man say. "Show Menu."

The computer flashed its' insistant message in response.

"Computer," he said, startling the man, "initiate security measure 'White Glove', authorization code 'Ragnarok'."

"Acknowledged," a computerized voice said. "Memory crystals wiped."

Dean grabbed the man by the scruff of his labcoat, and helped him out of the cockpit.

"Out," Dean told him bluntly.

"You will be unable to leave the atmosphere," the woman warned as Dean slid into the seat that was rightfully his.

"What?" he asked.

"The magnetic storm will disable your..._craft_, once again."

"Then how do I get out?" he asked.

"I will provide an escort," she offered, "if you ensure that no Cornerian forces return to this planet, or this system."

"You are in charge of the forces on this planet?" he asked. She gave a slight nod. "Then you know that I cannot make that promise."

"Then you will stay within the atmosphere until you can make that promise," she said.

"I thought you said I was free to go," he said.

"You are," she assured him.

He squinted at her, understanding her angle perfectly. Without a word, he closed the cockpit and sat down, piloting his Arwing off of the larger ship. He emerged into the darkness of night, banked putting the moon at his back, and sped off in that direction until the large fleet was near the edge of his short-range radar and nearly out of sight. dean noticed that he was no longer in the tundra, but a forest. He ran a sweep of the area with the Arwing's sensors to ensure that the area was free of any potential threats before setting his ship down on a large slab of stone. After a quick check to make sure that the computers hardware hadn't been tampered with, he reached to activate the long-distance comm. After turning to three nearly silent channels, he clicked onto one that sent his entire ship into a flurry of shouting.

"So we're just going to sit here and do nothing?!" Jessica shouted over the din. "He could be in danger! It's been a full day since you heard from him."

"We can't just call him," Slippy croaked as the background noise calmed down.

"He's right," Peppy agreed. "If Dean's in a situation where stealth is a top priority, then we could give away his position."

"No need to worry about that," Dean said. After two seconds of total silence, the comm was once again overpowered by five shouting voices at once. When the shouting continued for a few seconds, Dean decided to silence it. "Fox!" he shouted.

"Yeah?" the vulpine's voice called through the speaker.

"I have a sit rep."

"Go ahead."

"I made contact with alien life forms. They are more advanced than initially presumed, and may have history with Corneria."

"'History' is right," Peppy said. "They call themselves Meterians. About three hundred years ago, Corneria went to war with a group that called themselves the Meterians, after a mythical ancient civilization. Where we had superior technology they matched us in might and numbers, and Corneria only barely emerged victorious through careful planning and strategy. The Meterians agreed to leave Lylat forever, and we didn't expect to encounter them again."

"So what're we waiting for?" Falco asked, "Let's blast these creeps back to their homeworld."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Peppy said. "This might be more than we can fight."

"You don't need to fight," Jessica broke in desperately. "We'll find a way to bring you home."

"It's okay," Krystal said. Dean's eyes shot wide open at her voice, as memories of his last adventure with her flooded his mind. "I'm...I'm glad you're safe," she said, before fading footsteps told of her departure.

"Is she okay?" Slippy asked.

"She says she's alright," Fox said. "But I don't know..."

"Listen up, Dean," Peppy began, "Looks like we're gonna have to work fast, so we don't upset the Meterians. Slippy's been working on an advanced shielding system, which should be able to penetrate the effects of those storm clouds. He'll fly down with it, and he should be able to bring your Arwing with him on the way back. Once you're here, we -"

"Will that work?" Jessica asked anxiously.

"And is that a good idea? I mean a Cornerian on a Meterian controlled planet, it could be seen as a act of aggression somehow.

"I'll come down running completely dark and cloaked, I will be invisible to both the Meterians sensors and their eyes.

"Babe, I'll be fine," Dean promised. "We'll be together before you know it, okay?"

"I...okay. Be careful," she warned him. "And...I love you."

"As I said, once your back, we can fully brief you on the situation. Until then, Dean, just lay low. And whatever you do, do not engage Meterian forces."

"As long as they play nice, I will." Dean told him. "Can I get an ETA on that extraction?"

"Two hours," Peppy said. "Just sit tight and Slippy will be there soon."

**A/N: First, I must give partial credit to Tallbrain for betaing and being my cowriter. Thank you everybody for waiting so patiently for the next chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it the next chapter should be up faster then this one. For all of you who faved and/or followed New Additions and the Independence War, thank you. If anybody has any suggestions, feel free to PM me. Sephchipmunk, your idea is a good one and I have been toying with the idea of making New Additions cover the entire storyline of Starfox Adventures. If anyone else agrees please Pm me. Until next time peeps.**


	4. Killing Time Until Extraction

**Welcome back everybody to the adventures of Dean in The Independence War. I would like to give the well deserved credit to Tallbrain for helping me with this Chapter. There are a couple of Point of View changes this chapter, so to make it easier on the eyes I put a line of - to indicate a change in POV. Have Fun!**

Date: November 8, 2021 A.D.

Time: 17:45 Hours (Arwing Clock)

Location: Epsilon Eridani System, Unknown Meterian Planet

Dean sighed and reclined in the small cockpit of his Arwing. He stripped off his thermal wear, piece by piece, as the planet's gravity had recharged the ship since he crashed, and therefore its onboard heater. He wondered for a moment about how the G-diffusers actually worked, but Jessica's voice brought him back to the moment.

"I miss you," she said simply. He had a vague memory of her telling him what she'd done over the past few days, and silently berated himself for not listening.

"I'll be back in a few hours," he assured her for the fourth time, making eye contact with her image as it flashed on his windshield. Peppy had explained how they'd gotten video earlier, but he hadn't even tried to pay attention; Krystal had been in the room. He continued without thinking about the blue fox; "After Peppy's done with me, I'll be all yours."

"And they won't bother us again?"

"Not for a few hours," he said with a smile.

"No," she said.

"What?"

"No. Let them handle this...'meteor-ing' thing. We can just –"

"Just what?" he asked, careful to control the stern undertone in his voice. "I can't run from this. And even you can't protect me forever."

"Dean..." she began, on the verge of tears, "I...I was only trying to..."

"I know," he said. "But you've never been like this. I flew out on Earth all the time, and you were always okay. You were always so strong."

"I don't want to lose you," she explained. "Back home, I always knew you'd come back. Somehow, I always knew you'd make it. But when you crashed down there...I felt helpless. I knew where you were...and I couldn't help you, nobody could help you."

"I know, babe," he said softly, leaning forward slightly. "I know. Look, why don't you take a nap?" he asked, even though he knew she would refuse. "I'll lay low for the next few hours, and it'll be fine."

"No," she said firmly, like he'd guessed. "I'm staying right here until you're out with Slippy."

He let out a soft chuckle. "And after that?" he asked knowingly.

"Well..." she began with a hint of seduction in her voice. Dean was distracted as she continued, though, as a dark, sleek ship passed overhead, much louder than the spherical ships had been, despite their similar sizes. He watched it with concern as it slowed and stopped, not too far from where he sat. This one wasn't spherical in shape like Shar 'Loc's had been, the craft was shaped more like a slightly flattened pyramid, giving it a sleek delta wing shape. It was however painted Matte Black like hers though.

"Dean?" she asked, recognizing his lack of attention. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, hoping to save her some stress. In the next instant, though, the video cut out, and he knew that hope had been dashed. He continued to try to reassure Jessica as words slowly appeared on the windshield.

Cornerian soldier. Reveal your ship quickly. You have nothing to fear.

"Dean?" Jessica asked again.

"I'm okay," he said. "I'm cloaked; they can't see me."

The message repeated itself once more, before a new line of characters followed. We are friends in this, Dean Williams. We only wish to speak.

"Yeah, and I'm a monkey's uncle," Dean scoffed under his breath. The ship hesitated, repeating the messages a few more times before it gave up and continued forward.

"Tra'Vice," a low-ranked soldier shouted, ready to report to his superior. He would gladly give his life without question, if the situation demanded, as he'd been taught since he was barely more than a child. "The Cornerian soldier has not appeared. Shall we broadcast the message elsewhere?"

A tall humanoid, human in appearance, continued to stare out a large window on the ship's bridge. He lowered his head imperceptibly and muttered an alien curse, which no one heard, before turning around to address his subordinate.

"No. Not now," he said, less rigid about his speech than many other Meterian generals. "A good soldier, in his shoes, would stay hidden until we showed our cards. So that's exactly what he'll do."

"Then...do we proceed without his aid?" the soldier asked.

"Of course not," Tra'Vice said, almost laughing. "We still need him. Abandon the search for now, and continue our patrol."

He turned back around, looking out the window once more. As the soldier gave a salute and rushed to carry out his orders, Tra'Vice leaned against the handrail in front of him and muttered under his breath. "We will bide our time...for now."

Shar'Loc walked with a quick, measured pace through her own airship, wearing a mask of indifference that sat only as rigid as everything else she did. With precise turns, she navigated through her ship until she reached a room used for communications, where she stood firmly in the center. The door sealed behind her, leaving the room in darkness for a moment until a series of monitors around her lit. No less than six faces stared at her, two of them with looks of contempt.

"Shar'Loc," the man in the center said calmly.

"Jul'Vaar," she replied with a nod.

"You have something to report?" he asked.

"I do. It would seem Dar'Loc was successful in his harvest; Doctor Isaac was apprehended once more, though he was forced to destroy the village. He's reported thirty-seven casualties."

"That is unacceptable," a woman left of Jul'Vaar sounded. "I trust Dar has been reprimanded."

"He has not," Shar'Loc said firmly. "He recovered the doctor alive, as he was instructed. The village was expendable."

"As is ninety-nine percent of our army," the woman said pointedly. "Including you."

"Aren't we all?" a man to Shar'Loc's right said. "Now, I'm more interested in this human he found."

"Cree'Jan!" Jul'Vaar shouted. "You speak out of turn."

"I also would like to hear of him," the woman said. One more voice sounded its assent, and Jul'Vaar nodded slowly.

"Very well," he said. "Shar'Loc, what do you have to say about these reports of a...Cornerian."

"They are true," she said, prompting at least two of the people to look away from the screens, one in contemplation and another to give an order. She continued, "Dar captured Doctor Isaac, as well as a Cornerian soldier who was within the village at the time. He did not appear to be helping the villagers, but he was caught when Dar gave the order to capture all remaining villagers."

"Dar'Loc captured a Cornerian?" Jul'Vaar asked. Shar'Loc's trained ear detected a hint of anger in his voice.

"It was not revealed that he was Cornerian until afterwards," she explained. "I assure you, he was released unharmed and unhindered."

"I certainly hope so," the woman asked. Shar'Loc's eyes flicked her way for a moment, before she glanced at each of the faces. Normally, four sat in silence, and only Jul'Vaar and his right-hand man (or woman) were allowed to speak, unless specifically questioned. Cree'Jan, though, was new, and because of his outburst, Shar'Loc would likely never see him again.

"You afforded him every courtesy, correct?" Jul'Vaar asked.

Shar'Loc hesitated. When she spoke, she carefully measured out each word. "The Cornerian soldier was released promptly and without injury."

"And he made it back to Corneria?"

"I am uncertain," she said pointedly. "He vanished from our sensors before leaving the atmosphere."

"I see," Jul'Vaar said, choosing not to press the subject further.

"Then what are my orders?" she asked.

"Your orders are to return here immediately," he said without hesitation. "Dar'Loc will be brought into custody indefinitely, and any villages untouched on Eridani Prime will remain that way."

Shar'Loc took in a sharp breath, but managed to put a tight control on her emotions. "I don't understand," she said slowly.

"You don't need to. Your interaction with a Cornerian soldier has cast doubt onto all of your Firehawks. You have nothing to fear, Shar. Assuming you told the truth, that is."

Shar'Loc swallowed hard, and forced herself to stand up even straighter. "Yes, sir," she seethed.

"You are dismissed," he said, before all the screens flickered off. She turned on a heel and left the now-dark room, making her way to the bridge without delay. She would be back. And if Dean Williams, the cause of this untimely recall, was still present, she would bring down the full force of the Firehawks upon his head, and if need be, all of Corneria.

Nobody makes a fool of me, she thought darkly.

Krystal snuck as stealthily as she could through the corridors of the Great Fox, quickly making her way to the control room. She had decided several days ago to speak with Dean privately at the first chance she got, but hadn't yet had that chance. But with him waiting for Slippy's arrival, and everyone else calm and confident of his safety, she knew that now would be her best chance.

She cast her thoughts ahead, scanning the hallway for anyone who could catch her and question her actions. The only one that her gift couldn't detect would be R.O.B., and it wouldn't give her away. Probably.

As she approached the control room, though, she felt another presence nearby. Jessica, she thought, slowing down. She perked her keen ears up and stayed still, trying to figure out how long she would have to wait.

"Listen," Dean said, "you need to get some rest. Please."

"But Dean –" Jessica tried.

"No, no 'buts'. I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

"I...okay," Jessica said, and Krystal perked up. "But Dean, you'd better be here soon."

"I know," he said with a chuckle. "Or you will come down to get me yourself."

"I would," she said. "Stay safe."

"I will. I'll call when I see Slippy, how about that?"

"Sounds good. I love you, Dean."

"I love you too."

Krystal looked down, fighting her suddenly rampant emotions. She had to ask herself why she was even here, or if it was still a good idea to even be around him. But then...he must've felt something still. It had been a long time, but he was the one who rescued her, not Fox. He was the one to fight by her side. He was the one who had loved her first, while Fox had just been a frightened little pup in comparison.

She immediately chastised herself for thinking such hostile thoughts. She'd known for some time that Fox liked her; telepathy makes that sort of information easy to get. And if Dean had never entered the picture, she could see herself falling for him. But since he'd gotten back, she couldn't even trust herself around him. Maybe if she could just talk to him privately, just tell him how she felt...

Krystal looked up and around, making sure Jessica was really gone, before emerging from her hiding spot. She would have to be fast, or else Dean might leave the craft to go scouting. She reached the long-range communicator and stole a glance all around, before typing frantically on the keys. The holo-screen initiated after only a second's delay, and the word "connecting..." flashed on-screen. Krystal waited in silence for a moment, before closing her eyes. Was this really a good idea? What if he resented her? What if he was angry?

She heard the connection open, marked by a telltale beep, before a single word scratched out of the speaker.

"Krystal?"

**A/N: I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter, and I can assure you that the wait for the next chapter is well worth it. I have a total of about 2,400 words already but I don't feel like I have quite done the chapter justice yet. Until next time peeps, don't forget to leave a review to let me know how I am doing so far. Thx. Peace!**


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